


Knock First

by sanguinolency



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 09:53:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12208854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanguinolency/pseuds/sanguinolency
Summary: Keith sighed. He wasn't normally the kind of person to go out of his way to comfort strangers. In fact, he wasn't the kind of person to go out of his way to talk to people at all. But something had to be done.-Lance is having a rough day. Keith is just trying to be a good person. What more do you need to start a friendship?





	Knock First

Keith sighed. He wasn't normally the kind of person to go out of his way to comfort strangers. In fact, he wasn't the kind of person to go out of his way to talk to people at all. But something had to be done. 

Keith had started pacing when he realized the sound coming through the wall was the guy in the room next to him practically sobbing. That had to have been at least thirty minutes ago. "Why couldn't this happen on a weekend Shiro was here," he muttered.

Shiro would know exactly what to do. He was the sort of guy that could say one thing and magically turn your whole day around. Keith wasn't like that. He didn't understand people well enough to have that sort of talent. Unfortunately, Shiro went home to visit his family this weekend, which meant Keith had to deal with this by himself.

Would it be socially acceptable for Keith to go over there and make sure everything was alright? He had never even seen the guy before, let alone actually make conversation with him. What if it was too awkward? What if the guy got mad at him? What if he- 

A particularly loud sob made Keith flinch out of his thoughts. This was ridiculous. If Keith didn't do this Shiro would give him that awful disappointed look when he told him about it and he would feel guilty for the rest of his life. All he has to do is walk over there and ask. If the guy wants nothing to do with him then Keith can go back to his room and pretend it never happened. 

He took a deep breath and glanced at the mirror to make sure he looks at least somewhat presentable. The sweat pants and old band shirt he's wearing aren't his most impressive outfit, but it should qualify as acceptable for comforting a stranger. At least he hopes it does.

Keith slipped his phone into his pocket as he began the short walk to his neighbor's dorm room. He stopped in front of the door and stared at the name tags for a minute, wondering which of the people in there he was about to meet. God, he really hoped this wasn't as weird as it felt.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door with his fist. The person in the room let out a shaky sounding "One second!" Keith heard some shuffling in the room and the door cracked opened. 

"Uh, can I help you?" said the guy. His eyes were red and puffy. Keith stood there awkwardly for a second before forcing himself to speak.

"The walls are pretty thin here. I could hear you sobbing for the last thirty minutes." Keith started, and then began to panic because why didn't he plan out the rest of this before actually coming over here?

"Oh, uh, I'll try to be quieter then?" The guy moved to shut the door but Keith stopped him.

"Wait, fuck, that's not why I came over here." Keith stared at the floor as he felt his face start to burn.

"I just, well, I was trying to see if you wanted some company?" Keith cringed at his own words. This was probably weird. Shiro was never going to let him live this down when he heard about it. Then Shiro would tell Pidge and they would tease him about it for years to come. He started to consider whether it would make the situation worse if he fled to his room when the guy finally gave him a small smile.

"I'd love company," he said and opened the door wider so Keith could follow him in. "You can sit in my chair. Hunk's chair is the yellow one, he's my roommate. I'm Lance by the way, I don't think I've ever actually met you before." Lance had plopped down in Hunk's chair, so Keith followed his lead and sat in the other chair in the room.

Keith looked around the room before answering, "I've managed to avoid all of the hall meetings even though my roommate desperately tries to make me go."

Lance nodded, "That's fair. Hunk and I only go for the free cookies."

Keith threw a quick look at Lance. He was staring with a faraway look at one of the many posters that had been stuck on the wall. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Lance scooted his chair toward Keith. "The cookies?"

Keith shook his head. "Whatever it was that made you so upset. We don't have to talk about it, I just thought I'd offer."

Lance sighed and looked at his hands. "It's nothing really. I just had a rough week and I was feeling really homesick because I had the room to myself. It's my own fault for going to school somewhere so far away from home."

"That doesn't sound like nothing to me. Besides, if you care about your family that much you probably had a good reason to go somewhere far from home. You shouldn't put all that blame on yourself." Keith gave himself a mental pat on the back for managing to give decent advice. Well, the advice had been a revised version of a conversation with Pidge when her brother had first gone to college, but still. Shiro would be proud.

"Thanks," Lance paused for a second before adding in a rush, "So, would you want to watch something? I have Netflix. Well, Hunk has Netflix and I made an account on his. I also have popcorn if you're hungry."

Keith considered the offer. He didn't want to be an ass and bail after Lance had opened up to him, especially since he had practically barged in to begin with.

"Sure, it's not like I had anything better to do anyways." He responded with a shrug of his shoulders.

Lance beamed and started making some popcorn. "Awesome! I'm in the mood for Parks and Rec if you're up for that. If not, I'm willing to compromise."

Keith snorted. "The real question is who isn't up for Parks and Rec."

"You know, I'm liking you more every second." Lance replied as he turned on the show. They settled into a comfortable silence that was occasionally broken to debate about plot points and character flaws.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

After a few hours, Lance couldn't hold back his yawn and gave Keith a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I think I exhausted myself from all the crying earlier."

"It's no problem, I need to head back to my room anyways. See you around." Keith stood up and stretched before letting himself out. He heard Lance calling out goodbye as the door closed and let himself smile. It hadn't been too awkward to sit there and watch a show with Lance. They had gotten along well and had fallen into a pattern of friendly banter quickly. Plus, there was the added bonus that the guy was pretty attractive.

Keith was debating on whether or not to start his paper when there was sudden knocking on the door that made him jump. He cautiously opened the door to a flustered Lance, who was holding his phone up.

"Hey! Right after you left I realized I didn't have your number? And I figured, since you knocked on my door the first time it was only fair for me to knock and ask a potentially weird question the second time. Do you want to exchange numbers with me?"

Keith blinked in surprise as he tried to comprehend the rush of words that came out of Lance's mouth. He actually wanted his number? Keith almost didn't believe it.

"Uh, it's okay if you don't want to though." Lance's words brought Keith out of his train of thought and he scrambled for his phone, shoving it towards Lance when he found it.

"No I do want to exchange numbers, I was just surprised is all." Lance let out a sigh of relief and typed his number in while Keith did the same.

"Thank god, that was about to be really embarrassing for me." Lance gave a small huff of laughter and started to head back toward his own room. "I'll text you tomorrow, I'm going to embrace my bed and pass out for a few hours."

Keith shut the door and shook his head, before closing his laptop. He didn't think he'd be able to focus on his paper anyways. Might as well get some sleep.


End file.
